Starter templates have long been used to provide content providers with guidance on creating content. For example, many word processing programs utilize a new document wizard to create a specific type of document from a template. The drawback to current uses of templates is that they require users to select a template from a predefined list. The user must know the name of the template they wish to use and select the correct template. If a template is not provided for the type of content they are creating, the user must determine if any other template listed could be used for their content, and select the next best match. Further, the user may have to examine the contents of each template and make a determination as to which template best fits. This process may result in the user choosing the wrong template, or not using a template, in addition to inconsistent content and lost productivity.
User-defined knowledge bases such as Wikis commonly employ templates, such that when the user creates a wiki page or article the user is presented with a list of available templates in the wiki space. However, the template names are selected by the template creator and thus are arbitrary and not necessarily intuitive to the user. Unless the user knows the content of the template, or has been instructed to use the best template, the user may again choose the wrong template, not use a template, or be required to examine the contents of each template and make a determination as to which template best fits their needs.
One recent application of information services which allow content on the world wide web to be defined and classified in a human-usable format is known as the “semantic web.” The semantic web provides great promise for adding structure to the vast amount of information on the web by defining and creating relationships between what would otherwise be unconnected data. In order to release the benefits of the semantic web, however, semantic statements must be added to the web content to enable processing by semantic engines. Ontologies are utilized to add structure to semantic web content, and the structure defined by each ontology must be associated with the web content so that machines can determine the semantic relationships from the content. However, a large problem currently exists in convincing the average user to add the correct semantic statements (such as applying a correct classification or relationship) to their web content.
What is needed in the art is an automatic selection of templates to accurately and efficiently assist a user when creating or classifying content. Further, an automatic selection of templates would be particularly useful in assisting the creation of semantic web content.